LinkedIn Groups are a great way to find information about current trends in your industry. However many groups are either overrun with self-promotional posts that are really just a link to someone's website, OR they are so tightly moderated that no one checks the new membership queue for weeks or months at a time.

How can you tell if a Group on LI is worth your time? I've found one simple statistic that lets me know in an instant if the Group is a GREAT Group or just another crappy spam fest:

After browsing to your choice group, click on the gear wheel in the upper right hand corner. Next, click on 'Statistics' under the 'About' section. Go to 'Activity' and here you can find the number of comments compared to the number of posts. More comments mean more engagement. Members are actually communicating with each other instead of just posting, posting, posting.

Here's an of example of a Group that has a higher comment rate:

And here's an example of a Group that have a LOT of posts, but few comments:

Higher comment rates indicate a healthier membership. These are the groups where new connections can be made and great ideas can be shared.

If you are a group owner, my next post will provide advice on how to create that comfortable atmosphere where members are happy to leave comments.

Do you have a favorite LinkedIn group? Please share with us in the comments!